Inclusive Digital Policies in Asia-Pacific

Date: Monday, Oct 13

Time: 14:15 - 15:15 (60 mins)

Session Types: Panel Discussion

Nepal’s journey toward digital transformation, like many nations in the Asia-Pacific, highlights the urgent need for inclusive digital policies that guarantee equitable access, protect digital rights, and foster innovation. UNESCO’s ROAM-X (Rights-based, Open, Accessible, Multi-stakeholder) Indicators provide a robust framework for assessing inclusiveness, while UNDP’s Principles for Digital Development emphasize human-centered, inclusive approaches.
The government representative will anchor the discussion in real policy priorities, legislative and implementation challenges, digital public infrastructure choices, and the question of sustaining digital reforms across changing administrations.
At the same time, Huawei, as a major private-sector technology actor, brings practical insights on infrastructure, innovation, and skills development, while civil society voices are critical for holding governments and corporations accountable, advocating for marginalized communities, and ensuring that digital transformations are not only top-down but people-driven.
The panel will begin with Nepal’s experience, its Digital Nepal Framework and the Internet Universality Indicators assessment before moving to South Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific. The discussion will capture regional dynamics, directly addressing the issues of the design and implementation of inclusive digital policies, making multi-stakeholder cooperation even more urgent.

Moderators/Speakers: Adesh Khadka, Aruna Joshi, Ashit Adhikari, Nirjana Sharma, Sriganesh Lokanathan, Tatevik Grigoryan, Waqas Hassan